Endangered Species

Whooping Crane in an Alberta Wetland

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A couple weeks ago, Lynne Morck was on a drive about enjoying the scenery that Alberta has. She was west on Innisfail, Alberta, Canada and came upon one lone Whooping Crane enjoying some wetlands. Lynne said that this was the first time she has encountered whooping cranes. Imagine her excitement. The lone crane spent some time foraging in the shallow waters and after a time decided to take flight and go elsewhere.

At first Lynne didn’t believe that she had actually encountered a whooping crane in the wild. However, once arriving home and studying her photos she was able to verify her unique discovery. She sent us the photos of her find and given up permission to share them with you. We hope that you enjoy them as much as we did!

Friends of the Wild Whoopers, (FOTWW) thanks Lynne for sharing her experience and photos with us.

Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge.

Alberta, Canada
Whooping crane in Alberta, Canada ©Photo by Lynne Morck
Alberta
Whooping crane in Alberta, Canada ©Photo by Lynne Morck
Alberta
Whooping crane in Alberta, Canada ©Photo by Lynne Morck
Alberta
Whooping crane in Alberta, Canada ©Photo by Lynne Morck
Albberta
Whooping crane in Alberta, Canada ©Photo by Lynne Morck
Alberta
Whooping crane in Alberta, Canada ©Photo by Lynne Morck
Albberta
Whooping crane in Alberta, Canada ©Photo by Lynne Morck

***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.

fall migration
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Corps, Wild Whoopers team up to save conservation icon

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Story by David Hoover
USACE, Kansas City District

USACE
A flock of whooping cranes stop to feed and rest in a field at the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers, Kanopolis Lake during their fall migration. Conservation efforts in the U.S. and Canada have seen the population increase to an estimated 504 birds. (Photo by U.S.Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District ©2017)

The Aransas-Wood Buffalo population of whooping cranes nests and rears their young in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta/Northwest Territories, Canada, during spring and summer. After the chicks fledge, adults and juveniles migrate 2,500 miles through seven states to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf Coast of Texas where they spend the winter.

Cranes must stop 15 to 30 times to rest and feed during their migration. Radio telemetry conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and direct field observation has documented migration stopovers that often occur in habitats associated with water resources development projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers throughout the migration corridor.

The founder and president of the non-profit Friends of the Wild Whoopers, (FOTWW), Chester McConnell worked with Dr. Richard 
Fischer of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center; Jeremy Crossland, USACE Headquarters land uses and natural resources program manager; and Michael Champaign, USACE, Fort Worth District biologist, to develop and finalize a Memorandum of Understanding between the Corps of Engineers and FOTWW to assess whooping crane migration stopover habitat and identify measures to maintain or improve that habitat on water resources development projects in the migration corridor.

To read David Hoover’s complete article about the USACE/FOTWW partnership and “stopover habitat” project, click here and scroll to Pages 34-35.

***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.

fall migration
friendsofthewildwhoopers.org
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If at first you don’t succeed, try again!

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Homer Moyers, Jr. and his wife had gone to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in the spring for the first time to photograph the whooping cranes at the refuge. However, the morning of their trip was so foggy all of their photos were pretty disappointing. At that time they decided they had to go back in November and indeed they did return. They found out about Kevin Sim’s charter boats, Aransas Bay Birding Charters, and booked a trip on the Jack Flash.

Monday, November 25 2019, was a beautiful morning for observing and photographing all the various birds on the refuge. Homer sent us some photos taken during their outing and we have compiled them into short slideshow for your enjoyment.

Friends of the Wild Whoopers thanks Homer for sending us the fabulous photos and we are sure that you will enjoy them as much as we did.

Whooping cranes from the natural wild population enjoying some tasty treats at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Photos courtesy of Homer Moyers, Jr. View slideshow at full screen for best results.

MUSIC: At The Shore – The Dark Contenent by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100770
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
FOTWW on GuideStar

fall migration
friendsofthewildwhoopers.org
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Thank You From FOTWW

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THANK YOU to our Giving Tuesday donors! Your donations will help Friends of the Wild Whoopers continue its Whooping Crane “Stopover Habitat” project. ❤️ #ThankYouWednesday

Photo courtesy of Captain Kevin of Aransas Bay Birding Charters

Thank you

 

***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.

fall migration
friendsofthewildwhoopers.org
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